Four Heartland Film Festival Short Films Shortlist for 2015 Academy Awards®

The 87th Annual Academy Awards® won’t take place until February, but the qualification/shortlist process is already taking shape. Among the 116 short films qualified between the Documentary Short Subject and Animated Short Film categories (58 within each category), three films showcased at the 2014 Heartland Film Festival have been shortlisted. Additionally, a fourth film was recently added to the Live Action Short shortlist:

White Earth

Set against the backdrop of a cruel North Dakota winter, this is the tale of an oil boom that has drawn thousands to America’s Northern Plains in search of work. Told from the perspective of three children and an immigrant mother whose lives are touched by the oil boom, each story intertwines with the others – often relying on the naive narration of children to poetically explore themes of innocence, home and the American Dream.Learn more at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences >>

Our Curse (Nasza Klątwą)

This film is the personal statement of the director and his wife, who have to deal with a very rare and incurable disorder of their newborn child – the Ondine’s Curse (also known as CCHS, Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome). People affected with this disorder stop breathing during sleep.Learn more at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences >>

The Dam Keeper

Directed by Dice Tsutsumi & Robert Kondo, 2014 Heartland Film Festival Official Selection

Set in a desolate future, one small town’s survival is due solely to a large windmill dam that acts as a fan to keep out poisonous clouds. Despite bullying from classmates and an indifferent public, the dam’s operator, Pig, works tirelessly to keep the sails spinning.Learn more at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences >>

The Phone Call

Directed by Mat Kirkby, 2014 Heartland Film Festival Official Selection